Butt-type compression connector

ABSTRACT

Multiple wire stops are added to a butt-type compression connector to assure a separation between the ends of conductors crimped in the conductor receiving portions of such connector to prevent distortion of the assembled conductors-connector which effects its mechanical and electrical properties. The wire stops are formed as pairs of fingers extending from either the interior edges of the conductor receiving portions or the marginal edges of the interconnecting web and across the web to limit the axial elongation of conductors crimped within the conductor receiving portions. Alternatively, the wire stops may be lanced from the floor of the web portion and extended transverse to such floor.

United States Patent {WI Sosinski [I ll 3,924,057

[ Dec. 2, 1975 BUTT-TYPE COMPRESSION CONNECTOR [75] lnventor: Charles W. Sosinski, Linden, NJ.

[73] Assignee: Thomas & Betts Corporation,

Elizabeth, NJ

[22] Filed: Nov. 29, 1974 [21] Appl. No.: 528,360

339/276 R, 276 T; 403/309 3l3 274, 282. 285'. 29/628, 630 F {56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS Primary E.raminerDarrell L. Clay Attorney, Agent, or FirmDavid Teschner; Jesse Woldman [57] ABSTRACT Multiple wire stops are added to a butt-type compression connector to assure a separation between the ends of conductors crimped in the conductor receiving portions of such connector to prevent distortion of the assembled conductors-connector which effects its mechanical and electrical properties. The wire stops are formed as pairs of fingers extending from either the interior edges of the conductor receiving portions or the marginal edges of the interconnecting web and across the web to limit the axial elongation of conductors crimped within the conductor receiving portions. Alternatively. the wire stops may be lanced from the floor of the web portion and extended transverse to 2,291,434 7/|942 Hollopeteret al v, 174/90 h H 2,799,72i 6/1957 Floyd, Jr. 4. 174/94 R 3.708.611 2/1973 Dinger i. [74/84 C 2 Claims, [9 Drawing Figures US. Patent Dec. 2, 1975 Sheet 1 of5 3,924,057

FIG. 1 a9. 28

PRIOR ART FIG. 2

PRIOR ART FIG. 3

PRIOR ART US. Patent Dec. 2, 1975 shw 2 of5 3,924,057

52 46 58 FIG. PRIOR ART PRIOR ART U.S. Patent Dec. 2, 1975 Sheet 3 of5 3,924,057

FIG. .9

U.S. Patent Dec. 2, 1975 Sheet 4 of5 3,924,057

US. Patent Dec. 2, 1975 Sheet 5 of5 3,924,057

'llll'l/ IIIIIIII BUTT-TYPE COMPRESSION CONNECTOR BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention tor to the conductors, due to axial elongation of the conductors, preserves some minimal spacing to prevent applying a distorting force to the web portion thus endangering or limiting the utility of the connector. In

The invention finds particular utility in the field of other embodiments, the wire stops may be formed at splicing large conductors, as in transmission, distribution or other high power requirement areas, and more particularly where solid conductors are employed.

2. Description of the Prior Art In the prior art, butt-type compression connectors are available having a first conductor receiving portion and a second conductor receiving portion each ar ranged to be mechanically joined, as by crimping, with at least one conductor. A web portion interconnects the first and second conductor receiving portions in linear alignment and spaced apart relationship. A single wire stop, usually struck from the web floor and formed up at a right angle thereto is provided to limit the maximum insertion of any conductor into a conductor receiving portion so as not to intrude into the other conductor receiving portion and thereby interfere with the ability to introduce a conductor fully within such other conductor receiving cavity.

In addition to the desirable quality of such wire stop, it also adds an undesirable quality whose severity depends upon the conductor size and whether the same is stranded or solid. When the conductor is placed in contact with the wire stop prior to crimping, no room is provided for axial elongation of the conductor due to crimping. The conductor, if small and stranded, may have individual strands deflect about the wire stop. However, larger conductors and particularly solid conductors will deflect the wire stop. Now, when the second conductor is inserted into its conductor receiving portion against the deflected wire stop and the connector crimped to the conductor the axial elongation of this conductor will tend to move the wire stop to its original position and in so doing will deform the web portion causing it to bend or break and work hardening the web portion thereby decreasing its current carrying capacity. The bending of the connector may cause shorting with adjacent conductors and the decreased current carrying capacity may result in a hot joint causing the connector to burn up.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention overcomes the defects of prior art butt-type compression connectors by providing a plurality of wire stops which cooperate to maintain a separation between the ends of conductors crimped within the conductor receiving portions of such connector and thereby prevents any distortion of the connector which may be injurious to its operation.

In a first embodiment, two pairs of wire stops are formed on the marginal edges of the web means holding the first and second conductor receiving portions in spaced apart, linear alignment and formed inwardly towards the longitudinal center line of such connector. The wire stops take a curvalinear form with the free ends spaced apart from the web means floor to provide maximum blockage of the web. One pair of wire stops, that is one finger extending from each of the marginal edges of the web portion, is associated with each conductor receiving portion and establishes the precrimping location of the conductor ends. The wire stop pairs are axially separated from one another so that their distortion in subsequent crimping of the connecthe interior edges of the conductor receiving portions themselves or they may be lanced or struck from the web means floor and positioned at right angles to the web means. It is therefore an object of this invention to provide an improved butt-type compression connector.

It is another object of this invention to provide an improved butt-type compression connector which is not distorted by the axial elongation of conductors crimped within its conductor receiving portions.

It is still another object of this invention to provide an improved butt-type compression connector employing spaced wire stop pairs to prevent distortion of the connector due to axial elongation of conductor crimped thereto.

Other objects and features of the invention will be pointed out in the following description and claims and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, which disclose, by way of example, the principles of the invention, and the best modes which have been contemplated for carrying them out.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS In the drawings in which similar elements are given similar reference characters:

FIG. 1 is a top plan view of a butt-type compression connector constructed in accordance with the teachings of the prior art.

FIG. 2 is a top plan view of the connector of FIG. 1 partially installed to an electrical conductor.

FIG. 3 is a side elevational view of the partially installed connector of FIG. 2.

FIG. 4 is a top plan view of the connector of FIG. I fully installed to electrical conductors.

FIG. 5 is a side elevational view of the fully installed 0 connector of FIG. 4.

FIG. 6 is a top plan view of a butt-type compression connector constructed according to the concepts of the invention.

FIG. 7 is a side elevational view of the connector of FIG. 6.

FIG. 8 is an end view, partially in section, taken along the line 88 in FIG. 7.

FIG. 9 is a top plan view of the connector of FIG. 6 partially installed to an electrical conductor.

FIG. 10 is a side elevational view of the partially installed connector of FIG. 9.

FIG. 11 is a top plan view of the connector of FIG.

6 fuliy installed to electrical conductors.

FIG. 12 is a side elevational view of the fully installed connector of FIG. II.

FIG. I3 is a front prospective view of a further embodiment of a butt-type compression connector constructed in accordance with the concepts of the invention.

FIG. 14 is an end view, partially in section, of the connector of FIG. I3 taken along the lines 14l4.

FIG. 15 is an end view, partially in section, of a modification of the connector of FIG. 14.

FIG. 16 is a fragmentary, top plan view of a further embodiment of a butt-type compression connector constructed in accordance with the concepts of the invention.

FIG. 17 is an end view, partially in section, of the connector of FIG. 16 taken along the line l7l7.

FIG. 18 is a fragmentary top plan view of yet another embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 19 is a fragmentary, side elevational view, partially in section, of the connector of FIG. 18 taken along the line 18-18.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS:

Turning now to FIGS. 1 to 5, a connector 20 constructed in accordance with the prior art is shown. Connector 20 is of the butt-type, meaning that conductors are introduced from opposite sides in linear alignment with the conductor ends facing one another and no part of the conductors permitted to overlap conductors entering from an opposite side. Further, the connector 20 is of the compression type meaning that the connector 20 is mechanically joined to the conductors by crimping. Connector 20 has two conductor receiving portions 22, 24 each capable of receiving one or more stranded or solid conductors. Conductor receiving portion 22 has two upstanding arms 26, 28 and an interme diate base portion 30 and similarly, conductor receiving portion 24 has two upstanding arms 32, 34 and an intermediate base portion 36. A web 38 interconnects conductor receiving portion 22 to conductor receiving portion 24 and holds them in spaced apart linear alignment. Extending from the marginal edges 40, 42 are a pair of wire stops 44, 46 respectively, which extend across the web 38 and transverse to the direction of conductors contained within the connector 20. The wire stops 44, 46 act to limit the insertion of conductors with the individual conductor receiving portions 22, 24 and prevent such conductors from passing entirely through one conductor receiving portion into another limiting or preventing the entry of a further conductor into such conductor receiving portion or preventing the conductor receiving portion from being sufficiently crimped to the second conductor.

A first conductor 48 (see FIG. 2) is introduced into conductor receiving portion 24 and the arms 32, 34 are formed inwardly towards conductor 48 and indented as is shown at 50. As a result of the compression of conductor receiving portion 24 about conductor 48 the metal conductive portion 52 of conductor 48 is caused to axially elongate placing great strain against the wire stops 44, 46 and defeating them, as shown in FIG. 2. The deflection of the wire stops 44, 46 by conductive portion 52 does not, however, distort the overall connector 20, as is shown in FIG. 3.

The introduction of a second conductor 54 (see FIG. 4) into conductor receiving portion 22 with the forming inwardly of the arms 26, 28 and indenting as at 56 results in the axial elongation of the conductive portion 58 against the wire stops 44, 46. As a result of the axial elongation of the conductive portion 58, the wire stops 44, 46 are returned towards their original position, as is shown in FIG. 4, and the sum of the axial elongations of the conductive portions 52, 58 results in the distortion of the web 38 as is clearly shown in FIG. 5. The distortion of the web 38 can result in cracking or breaking which would decrease the mechanical strength and conductive path of the web and also cold work the web 38 which increases the resistivity of the metal, thus decreasing its conductivity which could result in the connector 20 running hot or burning up.

Turning now to FIG. 6, 7, and 8, a butt-type compression connector 60 constructed in accordance with the concepts of the invention is shown. Connector 60 has a first conductor receiving portion 62 comprising upstanding arms 66, 68 and an intermediate base portion 70 and a second conductor receiving portion 64 com prising upstanding arms 72, 74 and intermediate base portion 76, joined by a web 78. Extending from a first marginal edge of the web 78 is a first pair of wire stops 84a, 84b, separated axially by a distance d, and extending from a second marginal edge 82 is a second pair ofwire stops 86a, 86b, also separated by a distance d.

As is best seen in FIG. 8, the wire stops 84a, 86a, are curved to provide maximum coverage of the web 78 with the material available. The wire stops 84a, 860 can also be formed in parallel with web 78 floor or could have been directed upwardly or downwardly at some acute angle with respect to the web 78 floor. The free ends of the wire stops 84a, 86a are shown above the web 78 floor but could be brought into contact therewith if desired. Also, the individidual wire stops 84a,86a could be formed as a single member 110, as shown in FIGS. 13 and 14. In FIG. 13, a butt-type compression connector having a first tubular conductor receiving portion 102 and a second tubular conductor receiving portion 104 joined by a web 106 is shown. The wire stops I08 and are formed by removing adjacent portions of the tube periphery and bending the wire stops 108 and 110 to the shape shown by wire stop 110 in FIG. 14. The single wire stop could be cut and formed as two individual arms 114, 116, of the connector 112, as shown in FIG. [5, much in the same manner as the wire stops 84a and 86a of FIG. 8. Although connector 60 is shown to have two open seam conductor receiving portions 62, 64 and connector 100 is shown to have two closed tubular conductor receiving portions 102, 104 it should be understood that a combination of open seam and closed, tubular conductor receiving portions could be used on the same connector and that more than two conductor receiving portions could be employed in, for example, a cruciform configuration.

The wire stops could also be formed on selected edges of the conductor receiving portions rather than on the marginal edges of the web. FIGS. 16 and 17 show a connector having a first conductor receiving portion 122 composed of upstanding arms 124, I26 and a second conductor receiving portion 128 having upstanding arms I30, 132 joined by a web 134. Formed on peripheral edges of the arms 130, I32 are wire stops 136, 138 respectively, inturned towards one another across web 134. Similarly, on the peripheral edges of the arms 124, 126 are wire stops I40, 142, respectively. The wire stops may also be struck from the floor of the web as is shown in FIGS. 18 and 19. A connector has a first conductor receiving portion 152 and a second conductor receiving portion 154 joined by a web 156. Lanced or struck from the floor of web I56 are wire stops I58, formed up at generally right angles to the floor of web 156.

Referring now to FIGS. 9 to 12, the operation of the connector 60 of FIGS. 6 to 8 can be appreciated. A conductor 88 is inserted in conductor receiving portion 64 and the arms 72, 74 are folded over and indented as at 90. The axial extrusion or elongation of the conductive portion 92 of the conductor 88 distorts the wire stops 84a, 86a much as the conductive portion 52 distorted wire stops 44, 46 in FIGS. 2 and 3, without effecting the web 78. (see FIG.

A conductor 94 (see FIG. 11) is then inserted in the conductor receiving portion 62 and the arms 66, 68 are folded over and indented as at 96. This results in an axial elongation of the conductive portion 98 of the conductor 94 which distorts the wire stops 84b and 86b as is seen in FIG. 11. As shown by the final positions of the wire stops 84a, 84b, 86a, and 86b a minimal space less than the original spacing d still remains between the wire stops 84a 84b and 86a 86b. As a result of this resultant minimum spacing, the overall connector 60 remains in line and the web 78 is undistorted (see FIG. 12.) Accordingly, when assigning a value to the distance d, the maximum displacement of each of the wire stops 84a, 84b, 86a and 86b must be considered and the value selected to be twice such maximum displacement plus some safety factor. The safety factor and displacement will be determined from the connector size, thickness and type of connector material, conductor size and material and the compression forces to be applied.

While there have been shown and described and pointed out the fundamental novel features of the invention as applied to the preferred embodiments, it will be understood that various omissions and substitutions and changes of the form and details of the devices illustrated and in their operation may be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit of the invention.

The embodiments of the invention in which an exclusive property or privilege is claimed are defined as follows:

1. A butt type compression connector comprising: a first conductor receiving portion at least partially defined by a first edge; a second conductor receiving portion at least partially defined by a second edge; said first and second conductor receiving portions arranged to be crimped to at least one electrical conductor placed in each of said first and second conductor receiving portions; web means coupled to at least a portion of said first edge of said first conductor receiving portion and to at least a portion of said second edge of said second conductor receiving portion to hold said first and second conductor receiving portions in spaced apart linear alignment; and wire stop means extending transversely across said web means to prevent the engagement of the ends of conductors crimped within each of said first and second conductor receiving portions; said wire stop means comprising two pairs of fingers, one pair of fingers extending inwardly from each of the two marginal edges of said web means; one pair of fingers providing a wire stop for its adjacent one of said first and second conductor receiving portions.

2. A butt type compression connector comprising: a first conductor receiving portion at least partially de fined by a first edge; a second conductor receiving portion at least partially defined by a second edge; said first and second conductor receiving portions arranged to be crimped to at least one electrical conductor placed in each of said first and second conductor re ceiving portions; web means coupled to at least a portion of said first edge of said first conductor receiving portion and to at least a portion of said second edge of said second conductor receiving portion to hold said first and second conductor receiving portions in spaced apart linear alignment; and wire stop means extending transversely across said web means to prevent the engagement of the ends of conductors crimped within each of said first and second conductor receiving portions; said wire stop means comprising two pairs of fingers, one pair of fingers coupled to a further portion of said first edge of said first conductor receiving portion, and the other pair of fingers coupled to a further portion of said second edge of said second conductor receiving portion. 

1. A butt type compression connector comprising: a first conductor receiving portion at least partially defined by a first edge; a second conductor receiving portion at least partially defined by a second edge; said first and second conductor receiving portions arranged to be crimped to at least one electrical conductor placed in each of said first and second conductor receiving portions; web means coupled to at least a portion of said first edge of said first conductor receiving portion and to at least a portion of said second edge of said second conductor receiving portion to hold said first and second conductor receiving portions in spaced apart linear alignment; and wire stop means extending transversely across said web means to prevent the engagement of the ends of conductors crimped within each of said first and second conductor receiving portions; said wire stop means comprising two pairs of fingers, one pair of fingers extending inwardly from each of the two marginal edges of said web means; one pair of fingers providing a wire stop for its adjacent one of said first and second conductor receiving portions.
 2. A butt type compression connector comprising: a first conductor receiving portion at least partially defined by a first edge; a second conductor receiving portion at least partially defined by a second edge; said first and second conductor receiving portions arranged to be crimped to at least one electrical conductor placed in each of said first and second conductor receiving portions; web means coupled to at least a portion of said first edge of said first conductor receiving portion and to at least a portion of said second edge of said second conductor receiving portion to hold said first and second conductor receiving portions in spaced apart linear alignment; and wire stop means extending transversely across said web means to prevent the engagement of the ends of conductors crimped within each of said first and second conductor receiving portions; said wire stop means comprising two pairs of fingers, one pair of fingers coupled to a further portion of said first edge of said first conductor receiving portion, and the other pair of fingers coupled to a further portion of said second edge of said second conductor receiving portion. 